Letter of the Law
by knightshade
Summary: The Foundation has a new sexual harassment policy. Kitt is horrified to discover he's guilty of violating it.


Title: Letter of the Law

Author: knightshade

Rating: PG

Summary: The Foundation has a new sexual harassment policy and Kitt's a little confused.

Disclaimer: I don't own Knight Rider, its characters, premise, ideas, branches, divisions or wholly owned subsidiaries. See Glen A. Larson and company.

Author's Notes: Just a silly little thing that came about when discussing that silly scene in Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death. Previously posted on Live Journal.

**Letter of the Law**

"Good morning, Kitt," Bonnie said as she rounded the corner into the garage already feeling behind even though she was half an hour early. She had a To-Do list two pages long covering an extensive set of modifications, bug fixes, and upgrades. All of which she wanted to get installed and tested before Devon sent them out on their next case.

"Good morning, Bonnie." There was a pause and then Kitt asked, "Do you have a minute?"

He never prefaced questions like that unless something was bothering him so she set down her list and started mentally prioritizing which things had to get done and which could wait. "Of course. What's up?" She grabbed a circuit card so that she could work in his cabin, opened the door, and sat in the driver's seat.

"As I'm sure you're aware, there's a new policy regarding sexual harassment that's mandatory reading for all Foundation employees."

Bonnie laughed. "Yes. But I don't think they had you in mind when they wrote the policy."

"That's what I thought too. So you can imagine my horror when upon reading the policy, I discovered I was guilty of violating it."

Bonnie nearly dropped the circuit card she was holding. "I doubt that highly, Kitt. Who do you think you've been harassing?"

"You, Bonnie."

Her jaw nearly went the way of the circuit card. She gave her own memory a quick scan but couldn't come up with anything that might have him concerned. "Kitt, you've never harassed me. What would make you think that?"

"Do you remember when Michael and I entered the Alternative Fuels Race and Michael was teasing us about the work you needed to do on me?"

Oh. That. "Yes." Bonnie gave up all hope of getting everything done. Sometimes working with someone who remembered everything perfectly had its drawbacks.

"And I created a shaped charge through the driver's seat that simulated ... well …"

"Pinching me," she supplied, hoping her cheeks weren't red.

"Yes."

"I remember now."

"Would that not be classified as harassment?"

Bonnie closed her eyes and took a moment to pick her words carefully. "Kitt, that was a long time ago. You were a lot ... younger then, and taking your cues from Michael. Yes, it was inappropriate. And yes, I didn't appreciate it at the time, but I let you know that, and you haven't done it since. Isn't that one of the guidelines? If the person behaving inappropriately stops when it's pointed out, then it's not really harassment, right?"

"That clarification is specifically in the section about unwelcomed advances. I wasn't sure if it applied to the Inappropriate Touching section."

"It does in this case." Bonnie was sure that the writers of the policy had not anticipated it being read by a very precise Artificial Intelligence. "Don't worry about it, Kitt. Just don't go around pinching people and you'll be fine."

"That brings up another question," Kitt said as Bonnie started to install the card.

"What's that?"

"What about Michael?"

Bonnie paused and glanced down at the voice modulator. "What do you mean?"

"He didn't stop asking you out even when it was clear, even to me, that you didn't appreciate it."

"You're hitting me with the complicated questions today, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, Bonnie, but it's confusing."

"Well, Michael did get the hint." Bonnie paused. "Eventually."

"But doesn't that constitute a hostile work environment?"

Bonnie had to work really hard not to let her sigh escape. "I guess it could - in some circumstances. Yes, it annoyed me, but it never got to the point where I felt intimidated or felt that I couldn't do my job because of it. Maybe I'd have felt different if Michael was my boss and I was afraid of some sort of retribution if I didn't go out with him."

"Well what about Devon then? He is your boss and he fairly frequently puts his arm around you."

Bonnie set the card down, fighting exasperation tooth and nail. She tried to remind herself that it wasn't Kitt's fault that human interactions were messy and confusing. "Kitt, Devon and I are friends. He doesn't mean anything by it other than friendship."

"Then why have a policy if the rules aren't enforced or don't matter in certain circumstances if those circumstances aren't delineated?"

Why couldn't Michael be the one to have these talks with him, she wondered? But it only took her brain a fraction of a second to kick in and decide what a bad idea that was.

Bonnie closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to figure out how to explain. "Kitt, there are certain things that most people agree would constitute sexual harassment. Like a case where an employer asked for sexual favors in exchange for a promotion or something blatant like that."

"Obviously."

"But a lot of other things are a matter of degree. To be honest, I think the policy goes too far. Some of it is just plain silly. But what I might not be bothered by, someone else might object to or find intimidating. Everyone brings their own experiences and background to a situation. I guess you could look at the policy as a list of behaviors that someone has a right to ask a coworker or boss to stop doing. But not everyone in every situation is going to find them objectionable."

Kitt was quiet for a moment. "I guess from that perspective it makes more sense. Thank you for explaining it, Bonnie."

"Any time. I wouldn't get too hung up on the policy, Kitt. You don't have anything to worry about." She pushed a button and the lower dash panel slid back to allow her to install the card. She carefully seated it and closed the panel.

"One more question, Bonnie, just to be clear."

"Of course."

"So if you don't find many of the behaviors objectionable, does that mean you don't mind me pinching you?" he asked with a bit of the devil in his voice.

Bonnie tipped her head back, cursing that damned driver of his. This side of Kitt's personality was entirely his fault. "Do it again, Kitt, and I will remove any capability you have to do anything that could even be remotely considered off-color."

"I think I find that to be harassment, Bonnie."

"Good luck finding it in the policy," she said, giving him a bit of the devil right back before getting out of the car to tackle that To-Do list.

-knightshade

August 18, 2006


End file.
